1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cooling systems for cooling a room having electronic equipment therein, and particularly to cooling systems for a computer room that are configurable to allow customized air flow in proximity to the location of computer equipment in the computer room.
2. Background and Objects of the Invention
The growth of the computer industry and telephony over the past few decades has been phenomenal. The integration of these technologies, for example, in telecommunications switching systems, has lead to greater and greater efficiencies as larger numbers of communications are handled by fewer components, which are typically housed in a central control room.
One problem inherent with many existing cooling systems for electronic equipment is rigidity. Many existing cooling systems are built into and/or under the flooring of a temperature-controlled room having equipment needing to be cooled. Such cooling systems employ fixed conduits or other piping for directing cooled air along a subsurface of the flooring and upwardly through the floor and towards the equipment to be cooled. The upwardly directed cooled air is in proximity to the equipment. In the event the temperature characteristics within the temperature-cooled room changes, such as by the equipment being moved within the room or by additional equipment being added therein, it is very difficult to modify the cooling system accordingly. For instance, the conduits have to be detached from their fixed positions and repositioned, or replaced in favor of differently sized conduits. Consequently, altering the cooling characteristics of existing cooling systems frequently proves a costly adventure.
Floor-based cooling systems present additional difficulties other than structural rigidity. For instance, floor-based cooling systems that do not utilize conduits for passing cooled air occupy more area so that equipment cabling and other obstructions do not cause uneven air distribution or a reduction in air pressure. Such systems require the equipment cabling to be plenum rated, thereby increasing system cost. Floor-based cooling systems also possess the tendency to distribute noise and vibrations, which may effect the operation of the equipment to be cooled.
In addition, floor-based and other existing cooling systems have a rather limited cooling capability. For instance, existing cooling systems have heat densities of approximately 80 watts per square foot (W/ft2) with planned cooling systems being claimed to possess heat densities of up to 150 W/ft2. Although perhaps adequate for some current systems, cooling systems having such heat densities may not effectively cool many of today""s equipment, such as state-of-the-art computational equipment.
As is readily apparent, if equipment is not effectively cooled, the internal temperature of the electronic components in the equipment substantially increases, thereby leading to significantly reduced system performance and, in some cases, total system failure. If a cooling system inefficiently cools the equipment, either the equipment may fail due to increased operating temperature or the costs for cooling the equipment may be unnecessarily high. What is needed, then, is a cooling system having its cooling characteristics closely tailored to the heating characteristics of the equipment to be cooled.
The present invention overcomes the above-discussed shortcomings and satisfies a significant need for a cooling system for cooling a room having one or more heat generating objects. The cooling system includes at least one heat exchanger disposed beneath the floor and extending substantially entirely between the walls of the room, and a fan unit disposed between the at least one heat exchanger and the floor and being selectively positioned along the at least one heat exchanger so as to draw air therefrom and blow the drawn air into the room, e.g., to a room portion having heat dissipation problems. By positioning the fan unit along the heat exchanger to adjustably provide a cooled airflow proximally to heat generating objects in the room, the present invention provides a reconfigurable cooling system that is selectively customized to particular room cooling requirements. The above reconfigurable system is also applicable to a heat exchanger installed in the ceiling above the various heat generating objects, enabling dual heat exchanging in order to further improve thermal efficiency.
The operation of the embodiment of the present invention includes initially positioning the fan unit in relatively close proximity to one or more heat generating objects in the room. Next, the fan unit draws cooled air through the heat exchanger and blows the drawn air through a first portion of the floor or ceiling into the room near the heat generating objects. In the event thermal characteristics of the room change, the fan unit may be moved along the heat exchanger so that cooled air drawn from the heat exchanger is blown through a second portion of the floor as desired, thereby adjustably configuring the air flow to effectuate cooling.
The present invention is also directed to a system better exploiting the reconfigurability aspects of the above embodiments. In particular, through modularization of the fan units and heat exchangers, cooling difficulties in large rooms may be addressed in an economic manner. The interchangeability and interlinkage of the components would also permit easier repair and less downtime.